Loving Frank

BOOK CLUB REVIEW

We read this book for our book club, as we mature women all agreed it was a very good book. We liked the historical pictures, newspaper clippings, and the fascinating insight the author delved into concerning the architectural works of the brilliant Frank Lloyd Wright. While loving Frank, and walking away from all she had by way of traditional motherhood and marriage, Maymah portrays a woman who is progressive, yet scandalized. One of the better books for a provocative discussion over coffee, for those of us who lived the women's rights movements, and still bemoan the glass ceiling... still discussing women's issues, as we venture along the way to the next rural homemakers club! Read the book.

9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Disliked the characters--Loved the book!!

If I disliked Mamah (and I did), why do I feel so shocked and bothered? Nancy Horan does an amazing job, starting with her exhaustive research, in bringing these two characters back to life with all their warts. The enigma for me is that a woman depicted as being ahead of her time in espousing women's rights would sacrifice everything dear to her for the "love" of a man. With her intelligence and many wonderful gifts, Mamah could have lead a rich and exciting life; but instead, she ended up living a life secluded from the things and people she loved most. Whether it was her intention or not, the author does a good job of showing how decisions we make based on our own needs and gratification can have far reaching and unexpected consequences for those close to us and even for peripheral persons in our lives. The ending was unexpected and jarring. I loved this book for many reasons which surprised me because, as I said, I could not like Mamah or Frank. A great bood for discussion!

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Nicely done, Nancy Horan!

Loving Frank charts the affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and his "muse" Mamah Borthwick Cheney from 1907 to 1914. It follows the couple through their travels in the Midwest and Europe as they search for a home-- or at least a place where they won't be persecuted outright for their affair. Centering on the tragic figure of Mamah, the book offers insights into both characters, Frank Lloyd Wright's growth as an architect during the period, and the time itself.

Nancy Horan does a great job of painting a picture of the world Frank and Mamah were forced to navigate near the turn of the 20th century. In a strictly puritanical culture that censored women of a certain class who attempted to be anything other than wives and mothers and certainly did not support divorce, the two of them were virtual pariahs for much of their time together. Horan's research is meticulous and her recreation of Mamah Borthwick Cheney impressive, especially as nearly all of Mamah's writing was destroyed when she died. She does take a few glaring creative liberties as she details Mamah heartrending several of the bohemian literary lights of the age, but it's an excellent way to introduce these people as fascinating subjects in their own right. One small disappointment in Horan's research is that she does little to make the reader understand how truly extraordinary and privileged Mamah's life leading up to her first encounter with Frank truly was. She had access to automobiles and education, the opportunity to travel and live on her own away from her parents, and many other significant privileges and opportunities available to few women in her day.

For me, the book presented an interest dynamic whereby I detested the main characters, more for their thoughtless self-absorption than for any flaw in their execution, but was engrossed by the story itself. Even though I read it for a book club, I would have finished it anyway if only to see what happened next. An excellent read for anyone interested in Frank Lloyd Wright, the history of Chicago, or looking for an account of an insider in the early American Woman's Movement. Highly recommended.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

a waste of time

Someone recommended this book to me. I do like the architecture of FLW and enjoy reading historical books. This I must say is not an historical book. It is highly fictionalized. I had to make myself push through it - I don't know why I did - thinking eventually there would be something redeeming. The characters were unbelievably selfish and the authors attempt to make them anything but was annoying. It is indeed a tragic story but not just because of the ending but because of the selfish acts that brought them to that place and the other lives that were affected by them.

4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

A TIMELESS LOVE STORY AND TRUE!!!

What a terrific read! I love non fiction that sounds like fiction!! Truth is more horrific and unbelievable than anything that can be made up!! Loved it!! Another fabulous read that has many of the elements here, conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose, a woman seeking to find her own niche, her own creative calling, escape from a heartless, muderous husband.....courage, exotic locations, brilliant, compelling, rich in detail.......JUST FABULOUS ALL AROUND!! Should be on every woman's book club list!!!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Loving "Loving Frank"

Loving Frank introduced two central personalities. Frank Lloyd Wright is someone I've known of, but was never particulary interested in. My main lack of interest in him, was due to the fact that I never particularly cared for his style of architecture. Mamah Borthwick was someone I've never heard of; however, after reading Loving Frank, I feel I knew her intimately. This book took subjects I had no past interest in, and brought them to life in a very enjoyable fashion. I can't say I always agreed with her choices, but I understood how she came to make them. I was particularly interested in how difficult those choices made her, and his, life. Nancy Horan has done an admirable job of combining history and fiction, and I look forward to another novel she may write.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Don't research before reading!

After reading this book, I did a little research on Frank Lloyd Wright. He must have been quite a character with charism coming out his pores! He had several women in love with him over his life time.

I read this book on a recommendation from my sister. I knew nothing about it. I had studied Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture in college and thought it might be of some interest. Well, I couldn't put it down. I won't go into any detail, because I don't want to give anything away. I do have a warning. Do not read anything about this book. Do not do any research before hand on the characters, or it will spoil the ending.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Never caught my attention

I was not very impressed. I was very excited to read the book as I am in the construction field. Once I started reading it I got about 3/4 through the book and never found myself wanting to read the book.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I'm Dumbfounded

I finished Loving Frank late last night and well into this morning, I'm still pondering the book; 320 pages of an evenly paced reading U-turns at the remaining 30 pages with a plot twist I did not see coming and left me finishing the book with my chin on the floor and tears in my eyes.
The story is based on the 7 year love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and one of his married clients, Mamah Borthwick. Apparently there is very little historical documentation about Mamah's life, and certainly less about the love affair. To this end, Nancy Horan has done an amazing job of writing an exhaustive love story. One also gets a nice insight to the historical setting; early 20th century America/Europe in the throws of cultural transition, the women's suffrage movement, and the advent of Wright's groundbreaking "organic" architecture. At face value this makes for a well paced, historical fiction novel. Although I truthfully didn't like any of the characters in the book, least of all Wright, I could appreciate their torment in carrying on what at the time was a scandal of the highest order and I very much the story taken as a whole.
However, the ending was just so shocking that I can honestly say I've finished this book completely dumbfounded. I cannot summarize Loving Frank in one word, but I will encourage others to read it.
Rating: 4 our of 5 Stars
Suggested With: Iced tea and a quiet summer afternoon.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Plodding historical novel

Loving Frank is a plodding, amateurishly written novel. The material might have been condensed down to a good novella. As it is, the book is padded out with stilted, information-conveying conversations and "writerly" description. At one point in the middle of the book an entire page is taken up with the adoption of a stray dog. The matter might have been taken care of in one sentence. To make matters worse, the dog turns out to be irrelevant to the plot. That's not good writing. I would guess that the popularity of this novel stems from its undemanding style. Readers "enjoy" the book because readers are never challenged at any point. It's true that there is some food for thought in Loving Frank. Sadly, that food is leftover 1970s style feminism. One's time might be better spent reading a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright than reading this book. Sorry. I don't like to be so negative but, as Loving Frank's tiresome heroine Mamah Borthwick herself might say, I must be honest and authentic in all that I say and do.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Liberated Woman Has a Tough Time in 1909

Who was the woman who gave up her home and family when she chose to live with Frank Lloyd Wright? This novel answers that question with honesty and crisp detailed writing that brings the past alive. Of course, I knew the basic story: she was a client, between them they had nine children, Wright's wife did not allow a divorce, creating a scandal which gripped Chicago at the turn of the century.

I did not know that Mamah Borthwick Cheney spoke multiple languages and learned Swedish to translate Ellen Key's essays imploring women to live an authentic life by being true to their emotional and intellectual nature. Had Mamah been less of a self-contained and highly educated intellectual she probably would have found the isolation manifested by the scandal more difficult to experience.

Ah ... and the ending. Shocking.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wow!

This book was impossible to put down. I knew of Frank Lloyd Wright before reading this book. Mostly that he was a famous architect. I had no idea what was awaiting me in the pages of this book. It has it all. History, love,passion, conflict, scandal,drama and oh my God the tragedy! I could not put this book down. It haunted me for days and then I stumbled upon The Women by T.C. Boyle which filled in some of the gaps and answered some of my questions about FLW's first and subsequent wives. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not as good as I hoped

Looking at everyones reviews I bought this book and was looking forward to reading it. I got 3/4 of the way though and it still did not pick up and I had no iterest. I jumped to the last chapter and I think that was the best one of all. I really love Frank Lloyd Write and the building industry but this book was terrible.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A fantastic read!

"Loving Frank" is a wonderfully written story about a difficult choice and living with the results. I didn't know anything about either of the characters in this book, but have since learned that Horan was very true to the real story. This was one of the best books I've read in a while!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Boring

I finally gave up on this book about 2/3 of the way through because I didn't like any of the characters, and did not want to spend any more time with them. The narcissism of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, although believable, was frustrating and irritating. I could not relate to these characters at all.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

There are very few books that I place in my top 5, all-time favorites, however, I believe that 'Loving Frank' has made it's place within my top 3. For Ms. Horan's first novel, she has made her mark in the literary world as truly a superb and gifted writer. From page one, she lulled my conscious into the year of 1907 and kept me there, page after page, an amazing fete within my range of reading. This book left me reeling for hours after I finished the very last word. I promise it will remain a favorite among readers both far and wide and is structurally embedded in the souls of those who venture into it. Bravo to Ms. Horan and thank you for enlightening the readers with an insight into the life of this remarkable woman, her struggles, her inner demons and her strengths. Let me also state, that in no way would I have chosen the roads that Mamah had chosen or made the decisions that she had made, for I am entirely of a different sort. Believing that my children will always be first in my life and in my soul, I can still appreciate the road she travelled and the heart and love which she encompassed for her self and the man she gave up all, for. Also, I have a new understanding of the man Frank Lloyd Wright was, and how easy it may have been to fall passionately and dedicatedly in love with such a personality. A 'Book Club' must read!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Exhaustive research and a feminist voice do not make this a well

Exhaustive research and a feminist voice do not make this a well written novel. It is plodding, the writing banal. In the hands of a talented writer with a story this explosive, this book would have been stunning. Only after the catastrophe did Ms. Horan seem to finally relax into her "voice." Unfortunately, by then it was too late. I wish the author had waited until she'd written a few books to hone her writing skills before tackling "Loving Frank."

Great Read

This is a must read for those who love Frank L. Wright homes. His life is something I never thought about. Reading this helped me understand him better. Gave me a look into the man who built the houses.

Compelling to the end...

This is one of the best books I have every read. I could not put it down. I was amazed to discover this was the author's first novel. I was also impressed with the level of research that went into creating this story. I can't wait to read another one of Nancy Horan's books!

Very Highly Recommended!-Includes some great history!

Loving Frank is definitely on my top ten list of favorite books!
I could hardly put it down. I will be looking for more books by Nancy Horan. It should be on every Book Club list.